DJ Brian's Trucking Journal
Journal Entries Nov2002-Mar2003 Apr2003 May2003 June2003 July2003 August/Sept2003
October 2003 November2003 thru April2004 Current
October 2003
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October 07, 2003- HOT DIGGITY DAMN- After waiting a couple of days to get assigned a truck at the terminal. I was called to the office and they handed me the keys to my next truck. I walked out to the lot and I stood there grinning from ear to ear. I got assigned a brand spanking new Kenworth truck. I opened the door and it is gorgeous inside, it has upper and lower bunk beds in the sleeper and a double sun roof...it even has the "new car smell". It won't be ready until the morning and then I get to "move in". I did get to drive it around a little and it drives very differently from the Freightliner I had before. Its going to take me a some time to get used to driving it but it will be fun to drive.
October 08, 2003- THE COMPANY GIVETH AND THE COMPANY TAKETH AWAY. I should have know it was too good to be true. Good thing I did'nt pick out a pattern for the curtains. Anyway, there has been a change of plans and now three other guys and myself are getting a rental car tomorrow to travel across the U.S. in search of abandoned trucks which will then become our trucks. They said we might have to travel as far as South Carolina (from Phoenix) for trucks. Abandoned trucks tend to be somewhat trashed because the driver got pissed off for some reason, emptied out his stuff and left it parked where it stood.
October 10, 2003- Yesterday, Werner rented a car for me and sent me on my way to Odessa, TX. I didn't leave the Phoenix area until kinda late so I spent the night at my brother's house in Tucson. I hadn't seen him and his family in quite some time. I send postcards to my nephew from all over the country and they stick little pins on a map of the U.S. of all the places I've sent postcards from. Anyway, I woke up around 5am this morning and headed to Texas. It was funny when I was driving this morning because right as I got to the Arizona/New Mexico border, I saw a sign for the weigh station and my initial response was "Oh Great" and then it dawned on me that I'm in a car, not a truck so I don't have to stop....I'm such a goof. The car I'm driving is a Grand Prix as a matter of fact
. I got to Odessa around 7pm and headed to the impound yard where my new truck was towed and was happy when I saw it. I'm getting a 2002 shiny Black Peterbilt...woof. I opened the driver's side door and looked in. The curtains to the sleeper berth were closed tight.....it was nighttime and I had this big fear of "Oh my god...what if I throw open the curtains and there's a dead body laying there" . I slowly looked in, poised to jump and scream but fortunately it was completely cleaned out. WHEW!!! I sat in the driver's seat, turned the ignition but it wouldn't start so I got the tow truck driver at the impound office and he hooked the truck up to his tow truck and we tried to pull-start it but it still wouldn't start. I called my company and they said to have it towed to the Peterbilt dealer and they would put me up in a motel. I hopped in my rental car and headed to the Delux Inn where I checked into a room. After dumping some of my stuff in my room, I walked across the street to the Dairy Queen and had a diet coke, burger, greasy fries and topped it off with a Peanut Buster Parfait. That now brings me to this point where I'm in my motel room right now recapping my day. Its getting late and its time for sleep. ....goodnight.
October 14, 2003- Well here's a picture of my Peterbilt
...all I need now is a load. I'm at a truck stop in Midland, TX waiting for a load.
October 15, 2003- Yesterday, I got dispatched to pick up a load of oats seed in Plainfield, TX and headed to the border of Mexico and Arizona
where I unloaded the seeds to an freight broker who will then take it across the border.
October 17, 2003- I'm in Los Angeles after dropping off a load and was dreading my next load for fear that it would take me into the depths of the LA city streets but fortunately it was to a Ramen soup company that I have been to before so it was a piece of cake. I got loaded with 20,000 pounds of instant Ramen soup...I bet you never thought those light-weight containers of soup could add up to 20,000 pounds but it does. This load was going to Colorado but instead of delivering it, I have been assigned another load after I split the Ramen load at our terminal in Fontana. My new load is going to Pennsylvania, a 2660 mile trip. Unfortunately, I had to go pick up an empty trailer at the central LA railroad yard and got totally lost for 3 hours during rush hour. Around 7pm I finally made it to the rail yard and waited for my trailer
. The railroad freight yard was huge, probably 5 miles long and a mile wide where freight containers from all over the world is shipped into Long Beach and then comes here to be transported by rail to various points across the US and Canada.
October 21, 2003- As I travel north, I can see the autumn leaves change more and more the further north I go. East Oklahoma has barely started to change
whereas eastern Missouri was well into the fall colors
.
October 22, 2003- It's about 4pm and I made it as far as Columbus, OH today before my hours ran out so I have to shut down until tomorrow. I was hoping to get to Wheeling, WV because my appointment is tomorrow so I'll have to start pretty early in the morning to make it to eastern PA. Boy, its starting to get a tad bit cool too, I'll have to break out the jacket pretty soon. You know I'm from Arizona so my blood freezes when it get below 70 degrees.
October 23, 2003- I made it to my delivery this morning right on time. During the entire trip I had to take special precautions because this was a high-value load and I'm just happy to get rid of it. After I dropped the trailer at the consignee and picked up an empty trailer, I was assigned a new load right away. This new load is for OfficeMax with a pick up in Hazelton, PA and stops in Morgantown, WV then Columbus, OH and my final stop is Lafayette, IN. On my way to my pickup I got to travel through the back roads of Pennsylvania
. Just a few hours after I took this picture I actually ran into some snow and tried to take a picture of that but it didn't turn out. It just looks like a gray cloudy day.
October 24, 2003- Arrived at my first stop in West Virginia around 5am but they weren't there yet so I crawled into my sleeper and dozed off for a couple of hours. Around 7am I was awaken by a very cute guy banging on my door asking if I was ready. I smiled and said yes and then backed into the dock door. After I got unloaded I said my goodbyes and headed off to Columbus, Ohio. Driving through the hills of West Virginia was very pretty with its fall colors
October 26, 2003- IT FINALLY HAPPENED...My new load is headed into New Jorsey and as I was driving just before dawn a car pulled up beside me and stayed steady with my driver's side door. I looked down and a lady was shining a flashlight at her miniskirt and in between her legs. I thought...hmmm, she must have spilt her coffee or something and I turned my attention back to the road. After about 5-10 seconds, the car sped up and took off. It wasn't until the car was about 100 feet ahead of me when it dawned on me what just happened and I just started to l a u g h. For 5 mile markers I couldn't contain my laughter.. I've always heard trucker stories of people flashing the drivers as they drove by but up until now, every time I looked down all I saw was elderly ladies reading a map or doing a crossword puzzle but now I have my own story -the morning I had an encounter with the Interstate-70 flashlight lady. She must have not seen the gay stickers on my CB antenna. Only in America ( or at least in Ohio) can you see a car barreling down the road doing 65 ( 55 for trucks ) with a person highlighting their privates with a Mag-lite flashlight. I also saw another 'first' just a little further down the road. I looked over to the shoulder and saw the first wild turkey I have ever seen. He was just pecking away. They say wild turkeys are hard to find and hunt which is why Benjamin Franklin wanted to name the Wild Turkey as our national bird but it was agreed upon to make it the Bald Eagle (thought I drop in that tidbit of information). And even further down the road I passed a golf course and despite it raining steadily for the past 24 hours and... if it was just 10 degrees cooler it would be snowing, there were several golfers out playing 18 holes like it was a warm sunny day in Arizona. I thought to myself... I've seen more than one turkey today.
